The Gimelli family ran a small Italian restaurant on Jonson Street from about 1995 into the early 2000s. It was a classy joint, ahead of Byron’s culinary curve, serving dishes from every corner of Italy.
The walls were covered in maps and photos of their Mediterranean island – enough to make you hungry before the food even arrived.
Tuscan charm
Lella ran the kitchen, and Franco worked the floor, famously knocking guests off balance with his winking Tuscan charm.
The Gimellis had two beautiful, sun-bronzed kids, Francesco and Carla.
When they landed in Byron Bay, they didn’t speak a word of English.
They planted a big garden at their Ewingsdale home and enrolled the kids at Coorabell Primary, where they quickly made friends across the Northern Rivers.
Lella laughs about how bad the coffee was back then, but says the town was spirited and colorful – full of wild characters, belly dancers, world-class music, and real community generosity.
They came for a holiday, fell in love, and stayed 20 years.
Before leaving Australia, they went on to open four more restaurants called ‘Relish the Experience’, winning awards and rave reviews from coast to coast.
Lella and Franco have since stepped away from the roaring restaurant life and settled back on their beautiful home island of Elba.
Seaside homestead
Their seaside homestead is one of the oldest on the island.
While caring for Lella’s 94-year-old mother, they still tend gardens full of Australian plants and cook up octopus salad, deep-sea tuna steaks, marinated anchovies, citrus-bright spring pastas, and pour glasses of sweet vino Aleatico.
They watch endless salty sunsets over the balmy Mediterranean bay – never without a satisfied wink to their other Pacific dream bay down under.
Taylor & Emiliano are from the Byron Bay Italo Club.
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